Flat bed knitting machine having an oil feeding device

ABSTRACT

A flat bed knitting machine having an oil feeding device is disclosed. Lubricant oil is fed, just when needed, to knitting members, such as needles, jacks and sinkers. The numbers of operations of knitting members are counted, and when a counted number exceeds a predetermined value, lubricant oil will be sprayed from a jet-type nozzle to the relevant knitting member.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a flat bed knitting machine having anoil feeding device that feeds oil to knitting members including needles,jacks and sinkers that are arranged in parallel with each other on theneedle beds of the flat knitting machine.

BACKGROUND ART

The present applicant proposed a flat bed knitting machine having an oilfeeding device that was disclosed in Japanese Patent Opening Hei4-333649. The oil feeding device comprises a feed pump being provided onthe machinery of the flat bed knitting machine, lubricant oil contactmembers such as brushes, being provided on the carriage thatreciprocates and scans over needle beds, and flexible oil tubes(interconnecting pipe) connecting the pump and the contact members. Inthis flat knitting machine, as brushes for applying lubricant oil areprovided to the carriage, oil feeding is made within a traveling rangeof the carriage or fabric knitting range. Accordingly, unlike the priorart, it is not necessary to shift the carriage to oil feeding brushesbeing fixed at one side end of the needle beds every specified travel toapply lubricant oil to cams being provided to the carriage even when notall the needles of the needle beds are used, for example, when a fabrichaving a small knitting width is to be knitted. Thus wasteful travel ofthe carriage and oil feeding to needles not requiring oil feeding can beprevented.

The operation, however, of charging the brushes with lubricant oil maybe effected manually by an operator through pumping, or it may be doneautomatically every specified period when the oil feeding pump is amotor-driven pump. These arrangements pose the following problems. Inthe case of manual pumping, an operator may sometimes forget chargingthe brushes with lubricant oil which may cause seizure or frictionbetween needles and cams engaging with each other. Moreover, if thetiming of pumping is not appropriate, oil may be fed to needles notrequiring oil feeding. In the case of motor-driven pumping, oil is fedevery specified period, every specified number of knitted fabric, or atfixed intervals. This method is not desirable because, unlike thecircular knitting machine, knitting is not effected circumferentially ina fixed direction in the flat bed knitting machine and the carriagereciprocates over the needle beds by reversing at appropriate pointsaccording to knitting data or knitting width. When two or more fabricsare simultaneously knitted by reciprocating the carriage over needles ofdifferent zones of the needle beds, such methods are commonly calledtwo-fabric knitting, three-fabric knitting and multi-fabric knitting,oil feeding by means of contact members utilizing capillarity ofbrushes, felts, etc. results in repetition of useless oil feeding toneedles that are located between respective fabrics being knitted andare not used for knitting.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

One object of the present invention is to provide a flat bed knittingmachine having an oil feeding device that feeds oil to the respectiveknitting members at appropriate time, namely, at effective points(including place and time) according to the degree of usage of each ofthe knitting members such as needles, jacks and sinkers in knitting afabric or fabrics.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a flat bedknitting machine having an oil feeding device that can selectively feedoil to knitting members at specified points on the needle beds. The flatbed knitting machine having an oil feeding device according to thepresent invention has at least a pair of a front needle bed and a rearneedle bed, wherein a plurality of knitting members such as needles andjacks are positioned parallel to each other on the needle beds such thatthey move forwards and backwards, and a carriage moving and scanningreciprocally on the needle beds and having cams for selecting andoperating knitting members according to knitting data for knitting aknitted fabric and is characterized by:

an oil feeding device including a lubricant oil supplying means forsupplying lubricant oil through interconnection pipes to oil feedersbeing provided to the carriage for feeding lubricant oil to saidplurality of knitting members;

oil feeding data processing means for determining and outputtingknitting members to be fed with lubricant oil as oil feeding dataaccording to the knitting data or a locus of the carriage; and

control means for controlling the oil feeding device according to theoil feeding data during knitting of the knitted fabric such that saidknitting members to be fed are fed with lubricant oil.

Thus the oil feeding data processing means selects knitting members tobe fed with oil from the knitting members such as needles and jacksbeing arranged on the needle beds according to the knitting data of afabric or fabrics to be knitted or the locus of the carriage andexpresses them as oil feeding data. The oil feeding data may be writtenin the knitting data in advance. Then, according to the oil feedingdata, the control means operates the oil feeding device to feed oil tothe knitting members to be fed with oil. In this way, as oil is fed tonecessary knitting members, oil can be fed efficiently in contrast to apiece of prior art where oil is fed to all the knitting members.Moreover, as oil feeding is automatically made during knitting, theknitting efficiency will be improved and there will be no damage toknitting members due to missed oil feeding.

It is preferable that said control means controls the oil feeders.Controlling the oil feeders rather than controlling the oil pump, etc.of the lubricant oil supplying means, which has slow response,facilitates selective oil feeding to the knitting members to be fed withoil.

It is preferable that said oil feeding data processing means determinessaid knitting members to be fed with oil by evaluating numbers ofoperations of knitting members according to the knitting data. Knittingdata easily shows which knitting member is used what times. The numberof operations of the knitting member may be determined accurately foreach individual knitting member, or may be approximated.

It is particularly preferable that said oil feeding data processingmeans determines said numbers of operations of knitting members beforeknitting of a knitted fabric according to the knitting data of saidknitted fabric. In this way, before knitting, the knitting data may beread in advance to determine the numbers of operations of knittingmembers. This allows easier data processing in comparison with the casewherein the numbers of operations of knitting members are determinedduring knitting.

It is preferable that said oil feeding data processing means determinesthe locus of the carriage during knitting of a fabric and determinesknitting members to be fed from the determined locus of the carriage.The locus of the carriage will show which knitting members are used whattimes. Hence knitting members within some locus can be estimated to havebeen used.

It is particularly preferable that said oil feeding data processingmeans determines said knitting members to be fed by counting numbers ofoperations of knitting members by the carriage. Here, when the carriageselects and operates a knitting member, this will be detected to countthe number of operations. In this way, the number of operations of eachknitting member can be determined from the movement of the carriage.

It is preferable that said plurality of knitting members are groupedinto plural blocks, that said oil feeding data processing meansdetermines said knitting members to be fed block by block, and that saidoil feeders feed oil to knitting members block by block. As oil feedingis made block by block, oil feeders may be ones that can not selectivelyfeed oil to the individual knitting members. Knitting members to be fedcan be determined roughly block by block.

Such oil feeders comprise contact members that contact, for example,knitting members to supply lubricating oil, such as brush, felt, sponge,cloth or belt. Actuators are preferably provided to move the contactmembers between a position wherein the contact members contact knittingmembers and a position wherein the contact members do not contactknitting members, and the actuators are controlled by said controlmeans. In this way, oil can be fed selectively to blocks to be fed.

It is preferable that said oil feeding data processing means determinessaid knitting members to be fed by counting numbers of operations ofrespective knitting members by the carriage and by comparing the numberscounted with a predetermined threshold value. In this way, knittingmembers to be fed can be determined accurately and oil can be fedselectively to them.

It is preferable that said oil feeders are provided with a jet-typenozzle for spraying lubricant oil.

It is particularly preferable that said jet-type nozzle sprays lubricantoil selectively to respective knitting members to be fed while thecarriage travels.

It is most preferable that said jet-type nozzle sprays lubricant oil torespective knitting members to be fed in a synchronous manner that thecarriage selects said respective knitting members. In this way, wheneverthe carriage selects a knitting member to be fed, said knitting membercan be fed with oil in synchronization with its selection.

It is preferable that said oil feeding data processing means accumulatesthe numbers of operations of knitting members for a plurality of theknitted fabrics to be knitted according to the knitting data anddetermines knitting members to be fed

It is preferable that said oil feeding data processing means determinesknitting members to be fed from the locus of the carriage over aplurality of knitted fabrics.

In this way, oil can be fed reliably to knitting members that do notrequire oil feeding for knitting a single knitted fabric but require oilfeeding for knitting a plurality of knitted fabrics.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the oil feeding device of theembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows knitting of a specified number of knitted fabrics.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing the number of operations of each knittingneedle while a specified number of knitted fabrics are knitted.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of oil feeding data processing in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of the knitting data analysis subroutine of thestep 3 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 shows stored oil feeding data when oil feeding is made block byblock.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram mainly showing the oil feeding device and themachinery of the embodiment.

FIG. 8 schematically shows an oil feeder using brushes.

FIG. 9 schematically shows a jet-type nozzle.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Preferable embodiments of the oil feeding device of the flat bedknitting machine according to the present invention will be described inthe following with reference to the drawings.

EMBODIMENT 1

In the oil feeding device of the present embodiment, a feed pump forsupplying lubricant oil, which is provided on the fame of the machineryof the flat bed knitting machine, and oil feeders such as jet-typenozzles, which are mounted on the carriage reciprocating and scanningover needle beds, are interconnected with flexible oil tubes or thelike. In this embodiment, the knitting data is read and analyzed inadvance to determine the knitting members (knitting needles in thiscase) requiring oil feeding during knitting. The knitting data isnecessary for knitting a fabric or fabrics and includes data ofpatterns, control, loop length, patterning, color yarns, take down,etc., and can be developed by using a knit design system (hereinafterreferred to as CAD”) or by manually inputting data direct to the controldevice of the knitting machine. The knitting data that is developed byCAD is read by the control device of the knitting machine and analyzed,before actual knitting, to determine the number of operations, or numberof selection, of each knitting needle while one fabric is knitted.During the actual knitting, oil is fed to a knitting needle of whichnumber of operations exceeds a prescribed value.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the present embodiment including the oilfeeding device and is provided with a main controller 3. The maincontroller 3 has a CPU 5, a ROM 7 storing the operation programs of theCPU 5, etc. and a RAM 9, a working memory, that can be read and written.The main controller 3 and an input /output interface (I/F) 13 isconnected to a bus 11. A touch panel 15, which is used by an operatorfor inputting various data by using command keys displayed on the panel,an external memory 17 such as floppy discs, hard discs or magnet opticaldiscs, etc., and the machinery of the flat bed knitting machine 19 isconnected to the input/output interface 13. Inputs from the machinery ofthe flat bed knitting machine 19 include carriage position, itsdirection of travel, and racking position of needle beds. Outputs to themachinery of the flat bed knitting machine include color yarns, needleselection, cam motors, carriage driving motors, oil feeding device 23,etc.

In the ROM 7 are stored programs 73, 74 for setting various data such asknitting machine gauge and kind of lubricant oil, an oil feeding dataprocessing program 71 for oil feeding processing, and a knitting machinecontrol program 72 for controlling the entire knitting machine. In theRAM 9 are stored various data corresponding to the above-mentionedprograms, such as knitting data 91, gauge data 92, lubricant oil data 93and oil feeding data 94.

FIG. 2 shows that knitting of a knitted fabric A is repeated to knit arequired number of knitted fabrics A. FIG. 3 is a graph showing thenumber of operations of each knitting needle when a plurality of knittedfabrics A are knitted. The number of operations is taken on the verticalaxis and the needle number on the horizontal axis. The first knittedfabric through the 4th knitted fabric are indicated by A1 through A4,and the numbers of uses of knitting needles for the respective knittedfabrics are indicated by a1 through a4. A predetermined value of thenumber of operations of a needle for oil feeding is set, for example, at500 times, and when the number of operations exceeds this value, oilfeeding will be made. While the first knitted fabric A1 is knitted, eachneedle located between y4 and y5 is used more than 1000 times. As aresult, oil feeding is made twice for them in the specified courses. Oilfeeding is made once for needles between x2 and x3 except theabove-mentioned needles between y4 and y5. No oil feeding is made forneedles between x1 and x2 and between x3 and x4 during knitting of thefirst knitted fabric, and the first oil feeding is made for them duringknitting of the second knitted fabric A2. The second oil feeding is madefor the needles between y2 and y3 and needles between y6 and y7 duringknitting of the third knitted fabric A3. The second oil feeding is madefor the needles between y1 and y2 and needles between y7 and y8 duringknitting of the fourth knitted fabric A4.

The lubricant oil data 93 is the data on knitting members to be fed withoil, such as needles, jacks, sinkers, etc. and kinds of lubricant oilthat are used for these knitting members. The knitting members and kindsof lubricant oil can be set individually by using the lubricant oilsetting program 74. On the basis of these combinations and parameterssuch as a gauge, speed of the knitting machine, etc., predeterminedvalues for oil feeding are calculated by the oil feeding data processingprogram 71 or set manually as one thinks fit.

In the oil feeding data 94 are stored the number of operations of eachknitting needle that is determined by the oil feeding data processingprogram 71 and the data on time when oil feeding is needed as the numberof operations exceeds a predetermined value for oil feeding. The timedata designates, for example, the course number of a specific knittedfabric An to be knitted in the nth order. As for the accuracy of thedata, it is sufficient that oil feeding can be made at an appropriatetiming according to the data. As described above, on the basis of theknitting data, the number of operations of each knitting needle per oneknitted fabric is determined, and these numbers are added up for therequired number of knitted fabrics to be produced to obtain cumulativedata. Then oil feeding is made at an appropriate time to each knittingneedle to be fed during the required number of knitted fabrics areknitted.

Next, with reference to the flow chart of FIG. 4, the process ofgenerating the oil feeding points of the respective knitting needles bythe above-mentioned oil feeding device will be described. First, in step1 the process starts, and in step 2 the knitting data 91 that isdeveloped by CAD is read from the external memory 17 of the controldevice 1. In step 3 the knitting data 91, which was read, is analyzed tocount the number of operations of each knitting needle and determine theoil feeding points for knitting needles requiring oil feeding during oneknitted fabric is knitted. Next, in step 4 it is checked whether theprocessing of the required number of knitted fabrics is completed. If itis not completed yet, in step 5 oil feeding points for knitting needlesthat are required in knitting the next knitted fabric are calculated. Inthis way, when the processing of the required number of knitted fabricsis completed, the processing is terminated (step 6).

FIG. 5 is a flow chart that describes in detail the analysis of theknitting data in step 3 of FIG. 4. The respective control courses(variable: i) of the knitting data are processed one after another fromthe first course down to the final course, and the numbers of uses ofeach knitting needle are added up and stored in memory. In this way, onthe basis of the knitting data, oil feeding data of the respectiveknitting needles to be fed is processed, and while the actual knittingis taking place, the oil feeding device 23 is driven to make oil feedingat appropriate time.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, when the number of operations of eachknitting needle used for knitting exceeds a predetermined value, oilwill be fed to the knitting needle. In place of this arrangement, forexample, the knitting needles of the needle beds may be grouped intoblocks, each block having a specified number of knitting needles, andoil feeding may be made to a plurality of knitting needles of a blockwhen, for example, the largest number of operations of a needle forknitting in the block exceeds a predetermined value. FIG. 6 shows anexample of a stored oil feeding data that is displayed on the screen,the touch panel when oil feeding is made by block. It shows each blockof needles is fed with oil in which course of the nth knitted fabric.

EMBODIMENT 2

In this embodiment, oil feeders comprise contact members such as brushesor felt, and the contact members are driven by driving means such aselectromagnetic actuators to advance, when oil feeding is needed, to aposition wherein brushes or the like contact knitting needles or atleast drops of lubricant oil come into contact with knitting needles,and to withdraw otherwise.

In the case of this embodiment, just like the above-mentionedembodiment, brushes may be driven according to the number of operationsof each knitting needle. It, however, is preferable that ON/OFF of thebrushes is switched course by course, or the knitting needles of theneedle beds are grouped into blocks having a specified number of needlesand ON/OFF of the brushes is switched block by block . In this way, evenif the responsiveness of the brushes in advancing and withdrawing is notvery fast, oil feeding can be made to knitting members at the requiredpoints on the needle beds. For example, when two-fabric knitting ismade, a zone of needles that are present between the knitted fabrics andare not used for knitting can be manually inputted as a block not to befed, or the above-mentioned zone of needles may be determined from theknitting data and specified as a block not to be fed, and when thecarriage passes over this zone, the actuators are turned off to withdrawthe brushes. With this arrangement, knitting members within the knittingwidth are fed with oil, for example, every specified number of courses,and wasteful oil feeding can be prevented.

EMBODIMENT 3

The oil feeding device of this embodiment is provided with feeders thatcan make very fine control of discharge of lubricant oil, and like thedriving of the actuators of the needle selector, with the travel of thecarriage, oil is fed to butts of needles to be used in knitting whilenecessary needles are selected according to the knitting data. Thequantity of oil to be fed is just the quantity needed for a single use.

Machinery

FIG. 7 through FIG. 9 show mainly the machinery of the above-mentionedembodiments. In these diagrams, 19 is the machinery of the flat bedknitting machine, and the machine frame 100 carries at least a pair ofneedle beds 102, and a large number of knitting members such as needles104 are arranged in parallel with each other on the needle beds. Themachine frame 100 is provided with an oil pump 106, from which lubricantoil is conveyed through interconnection pipes 112 to oil feeders 110mounted on the carriage 108 above respective needle beds. The controldevice 1 controls the oil feeders 110, and when the number of operationsis to be determined from the locus of the carriage 108 or selection andoperation of needle, the control device 1 receives from the machinery ofthe flat bed knitting machine 19 information concerning the carriageposition and selection and operation of needle. Generally speaking, whenthe carriage selects a knitting member, the carriage will operate saidknitting member.

114 is a flash memory and prevents loss of the data on accumulatednumbers of operations of the knitting members when the power of thecontrol device 1 is turned off. Any knitting member, which is not usedup to the predetermined number of operations in one day, will be fedwith oil when its accumulated number of operations reach thepredetermined number of operations after use in plural days. In stead ofthis, it may be arranged that the control device 1 generates oil feedingdata when power is turned on, normally at the beginning of the day'swork, such that oil is fed to all knitting members.

As shown in FIG. 8, the brush 122, being an example of the oil feeder,is provided for every butt 120 of the knitting members and stored in thecarriage 108. The brush 122 stores lubricant oil from theinterconnection pipe in, for example, felt 124, and the brush 122 ismoved by actuators 126, solenoids in this case, between a positionwherein the brush 122 contacts the butt 120 and a position wherein thebrush 122 is withdrawn. When oil feeding is made block by block, thecondition of oil feeding is that the maximum number of operations of anyneedle within a block reaches a predetermined value. The block may be afixed block, and the knitting width may be grouped into a single blockor plural blocks.

A jet-type nozzle 132 is shown in FIG. 9. The nozzle 132 is provided ona recirculation pipe 130. Lubricant oil near the nozzle 132 isconstantly preheated by a micro-heater 134, and the micro-heater 134 iscontrolled according to the knitting data. One end of the recirculationpipe 130 is connected to an oil pump, and to prevent clogging oflubricant oil of high viscosity, lubricant oil inside the pipe isconstantly made to move. The other end of the pipe is connected to anoil sump of the oil pump. The viscosity of lubricant oil near the nozzle132 is lowered before jetting, namely, before spraying, by preheatingwith the micro-heater 134. When the oil heating data demands sprayinglubricant oil to a specific knitting member, the power of themicro-heater 134 will be increased to rapidly blister lubricant oil andspray it from the nozzle 132.

Remarks

In the above-mentioned respective embodiments, the control device readsthe knitting data of a knitted fabric and makes data analysis todetermine oil feeding points of knitting needles that are needed forknitting. In place of such processes, oil feeding points of the knittingneedles may be obtained by using an analytical program that is installedon a CAD when the knitting data is developed by using the CAD. With thisarrangement, the knitting machine can start knitting the knitted fabricimmediately after reading the knitting data.

There is a production method that is commonly called schedule knitting,wherein, for example, various parts constituting a knit wear are knittedseparately in the order of the front body, the back body, the rightsleeve and the left sleeve, and they are repeatedly knitted as a singleunit. In this case, knitted fabrics for a suit correspond to a piece ofknitted fabric. In this case, the knitting data for one time of scheduleknitting is analyzed to determine oil feeding points of the respectiveknitting needles.

In place of reading the knitting data in advance, needles that arescanned or selected by the carriage may be detected and the numbers ofuses of such needles may be counted during actual knitting, and the oilfeeding points may be determined when this value exceeds a predeterminedvalue. In this case, analysis of the knitting data before knitting isnot required, and even if the design of a fabric to be knitted ismodified, the counted values prior to the modification can be takenover. During the first knitting of a knitted fabric, the locus of thecarriage in the actual knitting may be monitored, in particular, needleselection may be monitored to determine oil feeding points for knittingthe second and subsequent fabrics. The locus of the carriage may bedetermined by analyzing the knitting data.

In the above-mentioned respective embodiments, if oil is fed when apredetermined value is exceeded or being exceeded, this does not mean inthe strict sense of the word, for example, if the predetermined value isset at 500 times, oil is fed at the 500th time, the 1000th time, . . .For example, if there is a knitting needle of which number of operationsreaches 500 times in the present course, the number of a course thatwill use this knitting needle is determined. If said course is to beexecuted after a considerable time, the timing of oil feeding may bedelayed to the next course. If data processing is done in this way, suchtroubles that lubricant oil drips down from knitting needles being fedwith oil can be prevented.

It is a common practice that a plurality of varied knitting members suchas selectors, select jacks, jacks, needles and sinkers are stored on theneedle beds and cams of the carriage engage with operating butts of therespective knitting members to operate them. In such a case, it isdesirable to feed oil by separately setting predetermined values of thenumber of operations according to the kind of lubricant oil to be usedand the material, etc. of the knitting members.

What is claimed is:
 1. A flat bed knitting machine having an oil feedingdevice comprising at least a pair of a front needle bed and a rearneedle bed, wherein a plurality of knitting members such as needles andjacks are positioned parallel to each other on the needle beds such thatthey move forwards and backwards, and a carriage moving and scanningreciprocally on the needle beds and having cams for selecting andoperating knitting members according to knitting data for knitting aknitted fabric being characterized by: an oil feeding device including alubricant oil supplying means for supplying lubricant oil throughinterconnection pipes to oil feeders being provided to the carriage forfeeding lubricant oil to said plurality of knitting members; oil feedingdata processing means for determining and outputting knitting members tobe fed with lubricant oil as oil feeding data according to the knittingdata or a locus of the carriage; and control means for controlling theoil feeding device according to the oil feeding data during knitting ofthe knitted fabric such that said knitting members to be fed are fedwith lubricant oil.
 2. A flat bed knitting machine having an oil feedingdevice according to claim 1 being characterized in that said controlmeans controls the oil feeders.
 3. A flat bed knitting machine having anoil feeding device according to claim 2 being characterized in that saidoil feeding data processing means determines said knitting members to befed by evaluating numbers of operations of knitting members according tothe knitting data.
 4. A flat bed knitting machine having an oil feedingdevice according to claim 3 being characterized in that said oil feedingdata processing means determines said numbers before knitting of aknitted fabric according to a knitting data of said knitted fabric.
 5. Aflat bed knitting machine having an oil feeding device according toclaim 2 being characterized in that said oil feeding data processingmeans determines the locus of the carriage during knitting of a fabricand determines knitting members to be fed from the determined locus ofthe carriage.
 6. A flat bed knitting machine having an oil feedingdevice according to claim 5 being characterized in that said oil feedingdata processing means determines said knitting members to be fed bycounting numbers of operations of knitting members by the carriage.
 7. Aflat bed knitting machine having an oil feeding device according toclaim 2 being characterized in that said plurality of knitting membersare grouped into plural blocks, that said oil feeding data processingmeans determines said knitting members to be fed block by block, andthat said oil feeders feed lubricant oil to knitting members block byblock.
 8. A flat bed knitting machine having an oil feeding deviceaccording to claim 7 being characterized in that said oil feeder isprovided with a contact member supplying lubricant oil to knittingmembers in contact with them and an actuator for moving the contactmember between a position in contact with knitting members and aposition not in contact with knitting members.
 9. A flat bed knittingmachine having an oil feeding device according to claim 2 beingcharacterized in that said oil feeding data processing means determinessaid knitting members to be fed by counting numbers of operations ofrespective knitting members by the carriage and by comparing the numberscounted with a predetermined threshold value.
 10. A flat bed knittingmachine having an oil feeding device according to claim 9 beingcharacterized in that said oil feeder is provided with a jet-type nozzlefor spraying lubricant oil.
 11. A flat bed knitting machine having anoil feeding device according to claim 10 being characterized in thatsaid jet-type nozzle sprays lubricant oil selectively to respectiveknitting members to be fed while the carriage moves on the needle beds.12. A flat bed knitting machine having an oil feeding device accordingto claim 11 being characterized in that said jet-type nozzle sprayslubricant oil to respective knitting members to be fed in a synchronousmanner that the carriage selects said respective knitting members.
 13. Aflat bed knitting machine having an oil feeding device according toclaim 3 being characterized in that said oil feeding data processingmeans accumulates the number of operations of knitting members for aplurality of the knitted fabrics to be knitted according to the knittingdata and determines knitting members to be fed.
 14. A flat bed knittingmachine having an oil feeding device according to claim 5 beingcharacterized in that said oil feeding data processing means accumulatesthe number of operations of knitting members for a plurality of theknitted fabrics to be knitted according to the locus of the carriage.